Anyone have a home music share solution?

[Gazzer]

A new user of a Wiim Pro here. Purchased as I read rave reviews about it being the best music centre device for the price. While the streaming side seems to work well I'm less than impressed with the ability to access local music files....something that I would have thought to be a 'bread and butter' function of a music based device!

I now understand the limitations of the Wiim in accessing hard drives directly and that you have to configure a media share.

I have so far tried using some old D-link dns-320 NAS units...was not expecting much and was right....while you could access folders on the drives through Wiim there were no music file info, art work etc and operation through Wiim was extremely clunky....having to stab at the folder icons several times before you gained access.

I thought I had stumbled across an ideal solution when I connected a USB drive to my new Asus router configured as a media share. While all the file tags are read and album art available, I've just realised that only about half of my music collection is presented....presumably Asus have some limitation on the number of files their 'media share' can process. While the response on the Wiim in accessing this media share was better it still seemed a bit clunky and slow at least compared to my smart TV which allowed smooth and quick access to the 'share'

So to my question. Does anyone have a fully working solution for local media files....which does not involve having to leave a computer switched on permanently? Maybe some new media share NAS that plays nice with Wiim? I would also be interested if anyone else has found the access to Wiim Home Music Share to be slow or clunky, I.e you have to hit folders or albums icon several times in different combinations to get the Wiim app to respond?

 

[Mr Ee]

My ISP router only presented the first 10,000 files with its inbuilt media server.
I bought a cheap qnap nas (can't recall the model number right now) and installed minimserver free on it.
Works fine, although I generally use bubbleupnp (android app) to access it instead of the wiim app.

Bubble can also access SMB shares, so should be able to access the drive attached to the asus router, but that way it's just file browsing, no artwork etc.

Edit: I bought 'QNAP TS-233 2-Bay 2GB ARM 4-core Cortex Desktop NAS'
Also allowed LMS (Logitech Media Server, that some on here advocate quite regularly!) to be installed in a docker on it.

 

[Gazzer]

My ISP router only presented the first 10,000 files with its inbuilt media server.
I bought a cheap qnap nas (can't recall the model number right now) and installed minimserver free on it.
Works fine, although I generally use bubbleupnp (android app) to access it instead of the wiim app.

Bubble can also access SMB shares, so should be able to access the drive attached to the asus router, but that way it's just file browsing, no artwork etc.

Edit: I bought 'QNAP TS-233 2-Bay 2GB ARM 4-core Cortex Desktop NAS'
Also allowed LMS (Logitech Media Server, that some on here advocate quite regularly!) to be installed in a docker on it.

Thanks for the reply Mr Ee...
Just checked and it looks like Asus media server routar function tops out at 1000 files......can this be right

Had a look at minimserver...so that is software your run on a NAS. Presumably it offers better media sharing than any media share built into a NAS. Looking at compatible equipment I don't see a 'cheap' solution by the time you add hard drives Why do you prefer the bubble app function rather than Wiim?

Does the bubble app solution interface with Wiim?

 

[Mr Ee]

Thanks for the reply Mr Ee...
Just checked and it looks like Asus media server routar function tops out at 1000 files......can this be right

Had a look at minimserver...so that is software your run on a NAS. Presumably it offers better media sharing than any media share built into a NAS. Looking at compatible equipment I don't see a 'cheap' solution by the time you add hard drives Why do you prefer the bubble app rather than Wiim?

How does the bubble app solution interface with Wiim?

Yep, not uncommon for router media servers to top out at 10,000 files.
(Edit: I just realised you wrote 1,000 files. That does seem very few!)
Seems to be something specifically 'coded' in one of the config files, and often not able to be modified.

Minimserver is just one of a number of media server apps available, and, for me, the free version does all I need.
For my qnap nas, it's one of just a couple, iirc, pre-packaged media server apps that you simply choose from the qnap interface and install.
Qnap has its own media server built in; tbh I can't recall why I prefered minimserver.
Yes, not too cheap once hdd is added, but I use it for other storage too, and cloud backups. i.e. I got approval from the better half!

Bubble is free to try. It has a lot of options that the wiim app doesn't, yet, have.
Mconnect seems to be what some ios users use, as bubble is android only. General feeling I get from comments here and elsewhere is that bubble is better.
In bubble, you select the source and then choose a renderer, being the wiim, over upnp or chromecast.
Again, free to try, and just 5 bucks or so to buy a licence to get past the 16 track playlist limit, and maybe a few other restrictions too.

 

[Mr Ee]

I would also be interested if anyone else has found the access to Wiim Home Music Share to be slow or clunky, I.e you have to hit folders or albums icon several times in different combinations to get the Wiim app to respond?

To answer that question directly, no, the few times I've used the wiim app to browse my nas share I've not had that issue, most recently just a few days ago, so on the latest app.

 

[Gazzer]

Yep, not uncommon for router media servers to top out at 10,000 files.
(Edit: I just realised you wrote 1,000 files. That does seem very few!)
Seems to be something specifically 'coded' in one of the config files, and often not able to be modified.

Minimserver is just one of a number of media server apps available, and, for me, the free version does all I need.
For my qnap nas, it's one of just a couple, iirc, pre-packaged media server apps that you simply choose from the qnap interface and install.
Qnap has its own media server built in; tbh I can't recall why I prefered minimserver.
Yes, not too cheap once hdd is added, but I use it for other storage too, and cloud backups. i.e. I got approval from the better half!

Bubble is free to try. It has a lot of options that the wiim app doesn't, yet, have.
Mconnect seems to be what some ios users use, as bubble is android only. General feeling I get from comments here and elsewhere is that bubble is better.
In bubble, you select the source and then choose a renderer, being the wiim, over upnp or chromecast.
Again, free to try, and just 5 bucks or so to buy a licence to get past the 16 track playlist limit, and maybe a few other restrictions too.

Yes only 1000 files...can't be right.....would love to hear from anyone with an Asus router to confirm?

So the bubble app streams to the Wiim, sorry not to tech savy Did not know that was even an option with the Wiim!

 

[Gazzer]

To answer that question directly, no, the few times I've used the wiim app to browse my nas share I've not had that issue, most recently just a few days ago, so on the latest app.

Thats interesting. Of course maybe depends what the app is running on. I'm using a Samsung Tab A7 Lite T225, bought it only to use for music stream control, rather than phone. Maybe not up to the job

The double tap on the icons seems to be the most successful....not the way its supposed to work I'm sure!

 

[Mr Ee]

Thats interesting. Of course maybe depends what the app is running on. I'm using a Samsung Tab A7 Lite T225, bought it only to use for music stream control, rather than phone. Maybe not up to the job

The double tap on the icons seems to be the most successful....not the way its supposed to work I'm sure!

I use a 2016 galaxy tab A ...

 

[Gazzer]

To answer that question directly, no, the few times I've used the wiim app to browse my nas share I've not had that issue, most recently just a few days ago, so on the latest app.

Thats interesting. Of course maybe depends what the app is running on. Im using a Samsung Tab A7 Lite T225, bought it only to use for music stream control, rather than phone. Maybe not up to the job

I use a 2016 galaxy tab A ...

Oh....then that's very strange....why would I be having this poor app function

 

[simbun]

NAS solutions that include packaged media servers are the simplest (Synology/QNAP) but another common option is the use of a raspberry pi (small board computer), configured to access media locally (an attached hard drive) or via another NAS as described here.

 

[Gazzer]

NAS solutions that include packaged media servers are the simplest (Synology/QNAP) but another common option is the use of a raspberry pi (small board computer), configured to access media locally (an attached hard drive) or via another NAS as described here.

Thanks, yes a modern NAS seems to be the ultimate solution. Don't think I want to dig another hole for my self with the pi

Now just been looking at MrEe's recommendation using the 'bubble' app....now it seems to support cloud streaming service. Now that got my attention as it would seem to be a great solution, stick all my ripped music in the cloud and stream from there....no need for NAS device

Now just tried the 'bubble' app connected to my onedrive account and it works...or at least it seemed to play the one music file that I'd uploaded Does anyone know if 'bubble' maintains audio quality streaming FLAC files to the WiiM? Is there any other limitations in doing this.?

 

[simbun]

The compromise is that it's essentially a file browser, so you won't be able to browse your music by Genre/Recently Added/Album Artist e.t.c which may not be an issue for you, but would be for most people.

There are other apps that will index your music from an online service to give you the best of both worlds, but I've never looked into them personally so I have no recommendations on that front.

I haven't used Bubble to access music this way but I'm 99% sure the file will be passed to the WiiM as is.

 

[Mr Ee]

stick all my ripped music in the cloud and stream from there....no need for NAS device

The compromise is that it's essentially a file browser

As mentioned earlier, basically the same as using the SMB section in bubble to directly access the hdd plugged into the asus.
It's one (simple) solution. Not the best solution, but a solution nonetheless.

 

[ratty]

The low file count on the ASUS sounds a bit strange. Did you give it enough time for the DLNA server to scan and index all the files? It can take a loooong time initially, especially if artwork is embedded as it's likely to extract a copy from each track to its art cache. How many FLACs do you have?

 

[simbun]

The low file count on the ASUS sounds a bit strange. Did you give it enough time for the DLNA server to scan and index all the files? It can take a loooong time initially, especially if artwork is embedded as it's likely to extract a copy from each track to its art cache. How many FLACs do you have?

Not sure if the WHA was used here, but it does still have a bug with KODI where it only shows the first X albums/tracks so it might be the controller that's at fault.

 

[ratty]

Not sure if the WHA was used here, but it does still have a bug with KODI where it only shows the first X albums/tracks so it might be the controller that's at fault.

Hopefully the web UI for the server would show the authoritative file count.

 

[Gazzer]

The compromise is that it's essentially a file browser, so you won't be able to browse your music by Genre/Recently Added/Album Artist e.t.c which may not be an issue for you, but would be for most people.

There are other apps that will index your music from an online service to give you the best of both worlds, but I've never looked into them personally so I have no recommendations on that front.

I haven't used Bubble to access music this way but I'm 99% sure the file will be passed to the WiiM as is.

Thanks....I think I could live with just a 'file browser' interface...particularly if I'm saving $$$ not buying a NAS. If anybody knows other apps that will work with WiiM but also provide music indexing then I would be interested.

 

[Balthazar B]

@Gazzer, since you're considering the UPNP rabbit hole, you owe it to yourself to consider whether LMS would work better for you, given its other powerful capabilities -- including supporting over 500K tracks -- and that your WiiM device(s) can serve as Squeezelite endpoints. There are several discussions about LMS on this site, and lots of other information elsewhere. A lot of NAS devices support LMS OOTB, and it's easy enough to add as a low power front end to your music file repository.

 

[Gazzer]

The low file count on the ASUS sounds a bit strange. Did you give it enough time for the DLNA server to scan and index all the files? It can take a loooong time initially, especially if artwork is embedded as it's likely to extract a copy from each track to its art cache. How many FLACs do you have?

Indeed it is....very strange that it stops exactly at 1000. The files were connected up to router overnight so..........? I will check again on the overall total files and come back to you!

 

[Gazzer]

Not sure if the WHA was used here, but it does still have a bug with KODI where it only shows the first X albums/tracks so it might be the controller that's at fault.

Sorry you have total lost me here